It’s the modern-day bureaucratic nightmare — Someone steals something that belongs to you, and the one party that could easily do something about it refuses to listen to you because its records show that the thief is the rightful owner. According to developer Naoki Hiroshima, someone lusted after his Twitter handle (@N) so badly that they went to great lengths, hijacking his personal website in a (sadly successful) extortion attempt. [More]

Last night, Apple provided some very vague details about the number of requests for customer information it received from U.S. law enforcement and national security officials. At the same time, the company made it very clear that it would provide more precise information about the number of these requests, if only the government would let it. [More]

Most people who end up with a wad of counterfeit cash don’t find out until they take it to the bank or try to use it at a store that checks for funny money, but a woman in the St. Louis area says the man who bought her husband’s motorcycle using bogus bills later called to let them know they’d been had. [More]

Over its long history, American Express has always positioned itself as a credit card company that offers the best in customer service. But one Consumerist reader’s story shows that AmEx can screw things up just as royally as its competitors — and that its complaint department also doesn’t actually read your complaints. [More]